Belle's Memories
by White Shade
Summary: My other version of how Belle remembers Rumpelstiltskin. And gosh darn it all, of all the places in the house...Two shot. Rated for intentions.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well, I didn't think everyone would remember so quickly. This is MY version about how Belle would remember Rumpelstiltskin...another one anyway. Enjoy!

**Belle's Memories**

Back there, he'd been the one to enforce his will. In this world without magic, Belle had a certain power over him, not that he rejected her in any sort of way. After a few weeks of their reunion, things had seemed to return to a sense of normality for him. This was something he could relate to, his relationship with Belle; something in the past to tell him that not everything had disappeared with the queen's curse.

Then again, that pawn shop of his should have already given him that condolence, however it didn't...because no matter how much Mr. Gold wanted it to, there was nothing that could relieve him of his regrets in the world's past. His past. But one thing he knew for sure: Belle made things a whole lot easier on him. Having something real for him. Someone to touch, to hold, and to care for as she slowly regained her memories of the past realm.

She would never tell him exactly what she had remembered; at least, not everything. As far as he knew, she remembered coming to the dark castle, the deal her father made for the ogre wars, which only he had the utmost power when compared to any other to cease them.

"Do you remember when I sent you to town to pick up some straw for the wheel?" Mr. Gold had asked her that night. He could not fathom her expression as she shook her head, and he wasn't one to press the matter or force anything on her. Although he knew something was bothering her, he never asked, just let her be, roaming about the house, staring at some of his collections and the lavish trinkets he'd kept.

Tonight, as he locked up the shop, an idea struck his mind. Staring at the ground as the bitter wind brushed against his contemplating expression, Mr. Gold heard his keys jingle as he placed them in his black velvet coat pocket. With the gentle breeze, his straight brown hair positioned itself swiftly in front of his face, though he did not make any attempts to straighten it. Lifting his head and comfortably shifting his right hand on the top of his cane, he decided that he would in fact execute the idea in his mind.

To perhaps jog her seemingly distant memories, he smirked at himself, shaking his head as he came upon the shop, second guessing himself. He stood outside for a few moments, knowing the shop would close all too soon and he had to make up his mind. After staring intently in thought at the signs, Mr. Gold took a deep breath and sighed, walking into the shop.

"Ah, Mr. Gold," a sweet voice cleared the air.

It was Melanie, the girl working with Mr. French in the shop for now. Her torn tan dress sagged a little from behind her as she lifted her bare and filthy feet just an inch or so from the ground with every step she took. Her strides were not large, rather dainty. Her hair was turning brown and black with all the work she'd been doing lately around the shop. Futilely fixing at her dress and thin, knotted hair, Melanie cleared her throat and appeared behind the counter.

"Is there anything I can get for you?" she asked, holding a steady smile on her face. For a brief moment, he sympathized with her, remembering the days when he had been living that similar life...back when he had Baelfire...

Those memories were far too painful and he did as he usually did: he shook them off as he swayed his head from right to left. He then looked Melanie straight in the eyes.

"Yes. I'd like a single rose. Just one," he requested. Melanie gave him a surprising look, a small smile lifting to favor the left side of her lips and causing her to show only one dimple.

"Just one rose?" she repeated in question, looking to the floor and turning around. "All right, I'll be right back."

She left him waiting there for a few moments as she trimmed the single rose from a bush in the back of the greenhouse. Accidentally, Melanie cut herself on the thorns, as she always seemed to manage to accomplish, for her clumsiness wasn't necessarily subtle to those who knew her.

"Would you like a small vase?" she questioned as she place the rose in from of him and bringing out some wax paper to wrap it in so he wouldn't cut himself as she had multiple times.

"No, that's all right. I'm sure I have something at home," he replied, analyzing her new cuts. "Did you cut yourself back there?"

Melanie looked down at her cuts, smirking and shaking her head.

"It's nothing," she told him in a soft voice, looking back up at him and smirking. "I'm used to it." Mr. Gold, knowing how much this may mean for Belle and he, thought that perhaps he could spare a little extra.

"How much do I owe you?" Mr. Gold asked, reaching for his wallet in his back pocket.

"Um..." she stuttered as she glanced at the chart on a clipboard in front of her. "Five dollars and seven cents."

"Hmm," he was thinking to himself, paying no attention to the price as he gave her a twenty dollar bill. "Keep the change, dearie. Get those looked at."

He took the wrapped rose into his left hand and once again, began his walk home. Melanie was practically speechless, staring at the twenty. Just before the man left the shop, she came back to reality.

"Have a nice night..." after she'd said that, he had already closed the door. "...Mr. Gold." Melanie took the twenty, exchanged it for the change and then put the rest in her pocket, staring confounded at the wall for a few more minutes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

She was sitting near the fire, watching as the flame burned bright with its glowing colors of orange and yellow. Anything that might help her remember anything else from the past Belle was willing to try. There was plenty she didn't tell Mr. Gold, though she knew he sacrificed a lot for her...in both worlds. Belle did remember he sent her to town...but she knew not of the exact date and time it happened. She knew the ogre wars too, the deal and a few other small details that she couldn't place, like the tavern with dwarves in it.

Now all of that didn't seem to matter. As much as she still wanted to know, there were still circumstances that applied to her now. Even though he had a certain coldness to him, Belle found Mr. Gold could in fact be sensitive sometimes. He took her in, and he was trying to help her remembering things, though things came and went in little points of her life. What she saw out of the situation was that he was trying to help her, he was caring for her, and he meant everything he'd ever done for her. There was no mistaking it, he does care for her, maybe even love her, and she'd be a fool not to see that every time he looked her way.

The door squeaked open, causing Belle's thoughts to rupture in an instant. He was home.

"Belle?" he called out, though not in a loud voice, thinking she may be asleep upstairs.

"In here," she replied, making her way onto a couch.

Mr. Gold hung up his coat, sighing quietly as he made his way into his living room where he spotted Belle laying on the couch in that blue nightdress she always wore. At the moment, he just wanted to take in that she was really there, right in front of him, living, breathing...she was alive. Scanning her body, her beautiful figure caught his eyes straight away as it had the moment he met her. Her skin was so fragile it acted as glass to him. Soft and smooth, his eyes moved to gaze upon her neckline, where her perfection continued to amaze him. Her blue eyes were staring into his with a curious look.

"Is everything all right?" she asked, breaking him of his trance. He cleared his throat, thankful he was still able to hold his surprise for her behind his back.

"Yes, yes, everything's fine. I was just uh, well, I was just closing up the shop and I thought maybe I'd get you something,"

"Oh?" she asked, standing up to face him. He remembered exactly what he had done years ago, and he was ready to do it again.

He stood tall, however his face held a mischievous look that something had happened. Suddenly, he stepped a little bit backwards while his right arm shifted the cane to his left temporarily and with his right hand, he offered her the one rose, without the wax paper wrapped around it. No, he needed it to be exactly as it was.

"Here," he said, watching her look at it with a smile in surprise. "If you'll have it."

She took the rose the same way she had before, whether she knew it or not, and she stared at it for a little bit. "Why, thank you."

He extended both of his arms, cane back into his right hand, and he opened both hands as he bent forward slightly. This generated a small laugh from her, as he hoped it would.

She sat back down on the floor and briefly glanced at the fire, holding the rose, and when her attention averted to the perfect red flower, Mr. Gold saw her expression alter. Staring intently, he hoped this was what he was looking for. There were long, treacherous moments of silence between the two, but Mr. Gold felt the wait exceedingly to be longer than Belle could ever fathom.

* * *

Images from her past life flashed inside of her head. More spurts, but these seemed to be closer together than the others she had previously experienced. Images of a large castle, a blurred image of a man sitting and spinning a large spinning wheel. Pictures of a fire ablaze in the darkest of night, combined with the crackling of the fire she sat in front of just now. Another image of the man appeared to her again, this time she saw the front side of him, and at first glance, a wave of panic and uncertainty came over her. A rose came upon her view from his hand. A flash. Then...she heard him say something to her.

_"Oh no...I expect I'll never see you again,"_ his voice echoed in her mind, causing her eyes to shut. His voice was unlike any other she could recall in the moment, it was distinct and she'd definitely remember it again if she heard it. Then a picture of the castle's front door came into view, the long towers on either side, the almost grotesque yet mystically inviting atmosphere she recognized instantly.

The next thing she saw only lasted but a second, but she knew why. Her eyes were closed at the time, but his voice appeared again, this time in a whisper.

_"Why did you come back?"_

More images of a rage, in which this man threw back the stool he'd been sitting on, and she saw the wheel again, the anger on his face, and a strange silence yet his mouth seemed to speak words as he thrusted back the sheet of one of the mirrors. Then, another flash, and she was walking away from the castle, looking back but once, and his figure appeared in the tallest tower...

* * *

Gasping for air as though she'd been underwater for the past few minutes without warning, Belle's eyes widened and she stared at the rose. Her lips were parted slightly and so she exhaled slowly. Without blinking, she looked to the fire, then back to the rose. Mr. Gold still stared at her gentle face, almost disturbed at such intensity of emotion that was painted on her face.

"Belle?" he asked softly, though he dared not reach for her. Not yet.

Her blue eyes turned to him. He could see her chest rising and falling at the shock of her past experiences before the Evil Queen's curse.

"Rumpelstiltskin..." she breathed, staring at him, scanning his form from head to toe multiple times, as though she didn't believe it was really him, because she practically didn't. However, there was an instinct inside of her, and that voice was somewhat close to what she remembered.

"Hello Belle..." he didn't know what else to say. He began to tear up in his right eye. "I hope...I hope you-"

Belle sat quiet, wanting him to finish. This time, her eyes stuck to him, and all he seemed to do was falter over his words. Here he had caused the whole scenario, wanting her to remember, but he didn't know how much she had...and now he was speechless!

"Please...forgive me," he finally said, looking away.

Belle brought in both of her hands, the right over the left, and she knew who she was. She could remember herself again, she remembered she was somebody who, at one point, knew true love. How could she lash at him? Especially now, after he'd sacrificed so much for her, although she didn't even remember (or know at the time) who he was. It was strange to her how she could just forget the person who meant the most to her and moreover, in what seemed like forever, she couldn't recognize him at all!

Mr. Gold rose to his feet, though he staggered, favoring his left leg. That was something Belle couldn't recall. She rose with him, realizing she hadn't said a word since he'd found his rather simple but pleading request to her.

As if she couldn't control herself, Belle threw her arms around Mr. Gold's neck, burying her head into his neck, smelling amber and hints of musk after a rainstorm. It was raining outside though, and Mr. Gold had in fact gotten wet, but he was so close to home he really didn't care. He put his left arm around her in return, for at the moment, it was the only one he had to offer her.

He also, in turn, caught a fair whiff of her floral perfume, but it did not take away from her essence. He kissed the top of her head, and she released him, holding the rose in her hand.

"I remember this...and-and-I remember you, spinning at the wheel. A-and that time when you asked me...you asked me why I came back to you..." she stuttered.

"It was a rather interesting conundrum for me," he told her, but she had more to say.

"And you got angry at me, but I cannot recall what for. I left...heartbroken..." she finished.

"Yet...you haven't slammed the door in my face in the past few minutes," Mr. Gold stated aloud, though she sensed his confusion and small amount of shock.

She shook her head.

"I couldn't even tell you your name when I was brought here. I figure, if you've been patient with me all this time, knowing who I am and allowing me to stay, you must care," she inferred.

"Belle, I do care, and I'm sorry I chose the power...over you," he confessed, thinking to himself how he'd made that same mistake twice. That was when she crashed her lips onto his, still knowing how to get her own revenge for him being such an ass.

Backing him up slowly so his right leg could keep up, Mr. Gold found himself trapped between Belle and his dinning room table, and since she was still moving forward, he gave in, leaning back onto the table.

Picking up her dress from the bottom, Belle lifted herself onto the table, positioning herself above him and she kissed him again.

"It's been what...almost 30 ageless years?" Belle pondered. "There is no way you're getting away from me this time."

"Oh?" he asked, breaking free from her grasp and climbing up the stairs by use of the railing and arm strength, a small token for his development of climbing from Cinderella's little prison for him.

Belle chased after him, running up the stairs, catching up rather quickly. He turned a quick corner hoping to escape her for but a split second he could use to his utmost advantage; however, his fail was both epic and evident when he turned around and just then found himself being thrusted back by brute force. Shutting his eyes, fearing the worst, he felt the softness of his mattress catching his fall.

Damn it, he ran into his bedroom, of all the rooms in the house!

Belle had the upper hand, now that he had no excuse for his limping leg combined with the fact that he was facing forward, and she knew it. Once more, she loomed over him, staring into his eyes.

"Now, if you want to be let go, you have to do something for me," she said.

"Oh? And what is that dearie?"

"You'll have to beg for mercy...twice," she demanded, coming but an inch away from his lips.

"Never," he sarcastically sneered at her, and she smiled. He pulled her closer so they could kiss again, and he dropped his cane to the floor.


End file.
